DOCSLIB.ORG

Narrative of Modern Chinese Masculinity in Ha Jin's Fiction

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Narrative of Modern Chinese Masculinity in Ha Jin's Fiction University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 8-2012 Narrative of modern Chinese masculinity in Ha Jin's fiction. Lezhou Su University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Recommended Citation Su, Lezhou, "Narrative of modern Chinese masculinity in Ha Jin's fiction." (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1400. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1400 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NARRATIVE OF MODERN CHINESE MASCULINITY IN HA JIN'S FICTION By Lezhou Su BA in English Education, Guangxi Normal University, 2001 MA in Contemporary English and Linguistics, University of Reading, UK, 2005 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Division of Humanities University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky August 2012 Copyright © 2012 by Lezhou Su All Rights Reserved NARRATIVE OF MODERN CHINESE MASCULINITY IN HA JIN’S FICTION By Lezhou Su BA in English Education, Guangxi Normal University, 2001 MA in Contemporary English and Linguistics, University of Reading, UK, 2005 A dissertation approved on July 5th 2012 by the following dissertation committee Li Zeng, Dissertation Director Annette Allen Manuel Medina Patrick Pranke ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my family 111 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my mentor, Professor Li Zeng, for his guidance, support and inspiration. I consider myself one of the luckiest of people to have found such a mentor as him who has both intellectual brilliance and generosity of spirit. The spirit and wisdom I have learned from him are bound to benefit the rest of my life. I would like to sincerely thank Professor Annette Allen for her being on my committee and Professor Osborne P Wiggins. Both have consistently been offering academic, technical and moral support during my pursuit of the PhD in the past six years. Equally, my sincere thanks go to Professor Manuel Medina as my committee member for his offering advice on organization of chapters and transnational perspective of the dissertation, and above all, his effort and patience. I am indeed eager to express admire and thanks to Professor Patrick Pranke. It is a great honor to meet and talk with such a professor as him, whose knowledge, academic horizon and enthusiasm are all impressive to me. I cannot thank too much for his time and support. I am grateful to Morse and Schaffner, who have always been there as a IV patient listener whenever I feel frustrated. With their help, I am learning, slowly but surely, to be myself. Back in China, I must express my sincere gratitude to my dear sister Zhou Haiyi. Our communication on regular transpacific phone calls has been incessant source of inspiration these years. His existence always reminds me that I am not alone. Words suddenly go powerless when it comes to my dearest parents Su Jianji and Mo Tailun and siblings Su Lemin and Su Leyu. To them, especially to my brother Leyu Su who is battling against cancer, I dedicate this humble achievement. v ABSTRACT NARRATIVE OF MODERN CHINESE MASCULINITY IN HA JIN'S FICTION Lezhou Su July 5th 2012 This dissertation consists of readings of three selected novels by Ha Jin-Waiting, The Crazed, and A Free Life. These novels cover three historical periods of Contemporary China under the rule of the Communist Party in sequence-the Mao's era (1949-1976), post-Mao era (1976-1989) and post-Tiananmen Square Incident era (1989 onwards). The readings are predominated with gender issues in the literary works, particularly with the construction and representation of contemporary Chinese masculinity. Drawing mainly on the Kam Louie's theory which pins down traditional Chinese masculinity in terms of wen (literary power) and wu (physical power)-the two concepts deeply entrenched in Confucianism, the dissertation explores how wen and wu qualities continuously define contemporary Chinese manhood in the novels. Because the characters of the selected novels mainly are intellectuals, the emphasis of my analysis is on wen masculinity represented by this community. In terms of literary theories, the dissertation adopts mainly the Structuralism vi perspective, exploring dualities underlying the texts, which include, heroes vs. anti-heroes, nationalism vs. humanism. Apart from emphasizing the cultural continuity in the construction of Chinese masculinity, the dissertation also attempts to reveal the transformations of Chinese manhood in the broader context of the socio-political environment of contemporary China. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................ iv ABSTRACT ........................................................................................vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................1 A. Biographical Sketch of Ha Jin ............................................................3 B. Previous Scholarship Review ............................................................7 a. Transcendence in Ha Jin's Fiction .................................................7 b. Cultural Transplantation and Translation ....................................... 12 c. Neo-orientalism? ................................................................................... 13 C. Significance of Studying Masculinity in Ha Jin's fiction .......................... 15 D. Chapter Organization ..................................................................... 18 I. MASCULINITY: INVISIBLE AND UBIQUITOUS ......................................21 A. From Masculinities to Chinese Masculinities ....................................... 22 B. Masculinities of Wen (literary power) and Wu (physical power) ............... 35 C. From Wen and Wu to Confucian Ethics ............................................ .40 VlIl D. Social-political Environment-a Broader Context ................................ .49 a. Sex, Gender and Marriage Under Class Struggle .............................. 52 b. Chinese Masculinity and Sexuality in Post-Mao Era ........................... 56 E. Summary .....................................................................................59 II. WAITING: MANHOOD SMOTHERED IN MAO'S REGIME ........................ 63 A. Mixed Image of Traditional Scholar and Revolutionary Soldier. ................... 65 a. Wen-Wu in Lin ..........................................................................65 b. Deconstructive Reading of Wen-Wu in Lin ......................................70 B. Lingering Confucian Discourses around Marriage in Mao's Era ............... 77 C. Mao's Appropriation of Confucian Moral Discourse .............................. 82 D. Structuring wen in Meshwork of Other Type of Masculinities .................. 88 a. Brother-in-law Relationship ......................................................... 88 b. Comradeship in Mao's Era ..........................................................91 c. Lin and Gengyang-Wen Vs. Wu ..................................................93 E. Grotesque Bodies of the Party ......................................................... 95 F. Summary .....................................................................................98 III. THE CRAZED: WEN MASCULINITY CRISIS IN THE 1980S ................... 102 A. Literature, Intellectual, and Politics in Mao and post-Mao Eras ............. 102 B. Textual Analysis of The Crazed ...................................................... 109 a. Basic Plot ...............................................................................1 09 IX b. Repercussion of Cultural Revolution on Intellectuals ........................ 111 c. Autonomy and Masculinity Crisis ................................................. 115 d. Yang's Self-Contradictory Attitudes Towards Politics ....................... 119 e. Narrator-Anxiety and New Identity Search ................................... 125 f. Banping-Antithesis of Narrator ................................................... 131 h. Women's Image in Masculinity Crisis ........................................... 136 C. Summary .................................................................................. 141 IV. A FREE LIFE: TRANSNATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF CHINESE MANHOOD .......................................................................................145 A. Chinese Masculinity Construction in a Transnational Context of the 1990s .......................................................................................145 B. Reconstruction of Overseas Chinese Masculinity ............................... 150 C. Dildungroman in Reverse - Chinese Artists and Literati in the 1990s ...... 159 a. Nostalgia and Homeward Journey ............................................... 159 b. Consumerism, Commercialization and Wen Masculinity ................... 162 D. Love, Sexuality and Masculinity Construction ...................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Green Leaves of China. Sociopolitical Imaginaries in Chinese Environmental Nonfiction
    The green leaves of China. Sociopolitical imaginaries in Chinese environmental nonfiction. Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Institut für Sinologie Vorgelegt von Matthias Liehr April 2013 Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Rudolf G. Wagner Zweitgutachterin: Prof. Dr. Barbara Mittler Table of contents Table of contents 1 Acknowledgements 2 List of abbreviated book titles 4 I. Introduction 5 I.1 Thesis outline 9 II. Looking for environmentalism with Chinese characteristics 13 II.1 Theoretical considerations: In search for a ‘green public sphere’ in China. 13 II.2 Bringing culture back in: traditional repertoires of public contention within Chinese environmentalism 28 II.3 A cosmopolitan perspective on Chinese environmentalism 38 III. “Woodcutter, wake up”: Governance in Chinese ecological reportage literature 62 III.1 Background: Economic Reform and Environmental Destruction in the 1980s 64 III.2 The narrative: Woodcutter, wake up! – A tale of two mountains, and one problem 68 III.3 The form: Literary reportage, and its role within the Chinese social imaginary 74 III.4 The subject matter: Naturescape and governance 86 IV. Tang Xiyang and the creation of China’s green avant-garde 98 IV.1 Beginnings: What nature? What man? 100 IV.2 A Green World Tour 105 IV.3 Back in China: Green Camp, and China’s new green elite 130 V. Back to the future? Ecological Civilization, and the search for Chinese modernity 144 V.1 What is “Ecological Civilization”? 146 V.2 Mr. Science or Mr. Culture to the rescue? 152 VI. The allure of the periphery: Cultural counter-narratives and social nonconformism 182 VI.1 The rugged individual in the wilderness: Yang Xin 184 VI.2 Counter-narratives and ethnicity discourse in 1980s China 193 VI.3 A land for heroes 199 VI.4 A land of spirituality 217 VII.
    [Show full text]
  • Kūnqǔ in Practice: a Case Study
    KŪNQǓ IN PRACTICE: A CASE STUDY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THEATRE OCTOBER 2019 By Ju-Hua Wei Dissertation Committee: Elizabeth A. Wichmann-Walczak, Chairperson Lurana Donnels O’Malley Kirstin A. Pauka Cathryn H. Clayton Shana J. Brown Keywords: kunqu, kunju, opera, performance, text, music, creation, practice, Wei Liangfu © 2019, Ju-Hua Wei ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to the individuals who helped me in completion of my dissertation and on my journey of exploring the world of theatre and music: Shén Fúqìng 沈福庆 (1933-2013), for being a thoughtful teacher and a father figure. He taught me the spirit of jīngjù and demonstrated the ultimate fine art of jīngjù music and singing. He was an inspiration to all of us who learned from him. And to his spouse, Zhāng Qìnglán 张庆兰, for her motherly love during my jīngjù research in Nánjīng 南京. Sūn Jiàn’ān 孙建安, for being a great mentor to me, bringing me along on all occasions, introducing me to the production team which initiated the project for my dissertation, attending the kūnqǔ performances in which he was involved, meeting his kūnqǔ expert friends, listening to his music lessons, and more; anything which he thought might benefit my understanding of all aspects of kūnqǔ. I am grateful for all his support and his profound knowledge of kūnqǔ music composition. Wichmann-Walczak, Elizabeth, for her years of endeavor producing jīngjù productions in the US.
    [Show full text]
  • Literature (LIT) 1
    Literature (LIT) 1 LITERATURE (LIT) LIT 113 British Literature i (3 credits) LIT 114 British Literature II (3 credits) LIT 115 American Literature I (3 credits) LIT 116 Amercian Literature II (3 credits) LIT 132 Introduction to Literary Studies (3 credits) This course prepares students to understand literature and to articulate their understanding in essays supported by carefully analyzed evidence from assigned works. Major genres and the literary terms and conventions associated with each genre will be explored. Students will be introduced to literary criticism drawn from a variety of perspectives. Course Rotation: Fall. LIT 196 Topics in Literature (3 credits) LIT 196A Topic: Images of Nature in American Literature (3 credits) LIT 196B Topic: Gothic Fiction (3 credits) LIT 196C Topic: American Detective Fiction (3 credits) LIT 196D Topic: The Fairy Tale (3 credits) LIT 196H Topic: Literature of the Supernatural (4 credits) LIT 196N Topic: American Detective Fiction for Nactel Program (4 credits) LIT 200C Global Crossings: Challenge & Change in Modern World Literature - Nactel (4 credits) Students in the course will read literature from a range of international traditions and will reach an understanding and appreciation of the texts for the ways that they connect and diverge. The social and historical context of the works will be explored and students will take from the course some understanding of the environments that produced the texts. LIT 200G Topic: Pulitzer Prize Winning Novels-American Life (3 credits) LIT 200H Topic: Poe and Hawthorne (3 credits) LIT 201 English Drama 900-1642 (3 credits) LIT 202 History of Film (3 credits) The development of the film from the silent era to the present.
    [Show full text]
  • Is Shuma the Chinese Analog of Soma/Haoma? a Study of Early Contacts Between Indo-Iranians and Chinese
    SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS Number 216 October, 2011 Is Shuma the Chinese Analog of Soma/Haoma? A Study of Early Contacts between Indo-Iranians and Chinese by ZHANG He Victor H. Mair, Editor Sino-Platonic Papers Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 USA [email protected] www.sino-platonic.org SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS FOUNDED 1986 Editor-in-Chief VICTOR H. MAIR Associate Editors PAULA ROBERTS MARK SWOFFORD ISSN 2157-9679 (print) 2157-9687 (online) SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS is an occasional series dedicated to making available to specialists and the interested public the results of research that, because of its unconventional or controversial nature, might otherwise go unpublished. The editor-in-chief actively encourages younger, not yet well established, scholars and independent authors to submit manuscripts for consideration. Contributions in any of the major scholarly languages of the world, including romanized modern standard Mandarin (MSM) and Japanese, are acceptable. In special circumstances, papers written in one of the Sinitic topolects (fangyan) may be considered for publication. Although the chief focus of Sino-Platonic Papers is on the intercultural relations of China with other peoples, challenging and creative studies on a wide variety of philological subjects will be entertained. This series is not the place for safe, sober, and stodgy presentations. Sino- Platonic Papers prefers lively work that, while taking reasonable risks to advance the field, capitalizes on brilliant new insights into the development of civilization. Submissions are regularly sent out to be refereed, and extensive editorial suggestions for revision may be offered. Sino-Platonic Papers emphasizes substance over form.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Current Chinese Affairs
    3/2006 Data Supplement PR China Hong Kong SAR Macau SAR Taiwan CHINA aktuell Journal of Current Chinese Affairs Data Supplement People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Taiwan ISSN 0943-7533 All information given here is derived from generally accessible sources. Publisher/Distributor: Institute of Asian Affairs Rothenbaumchaussee 32 20148 Hamburg Germany Phone: (0 40) 42 88 74-0 Fax:(040)4107945 Contributors: Uwe Kotzel Dr. Liu Jen-Kai Christine Reinking Dr. Günter Schucher Dr. Margot Schüller Contents The Main National Leadership of the PRC LIU JEN-KAI 3 The Main Provincial Leadership of the PRC LIU JEN-KAI 22 Data on Changes in PRC Main Leadership LIU JEN-KAI 27 PRC Agreements with Foreign Countries LIU JEN-KAI 30 PRC Laws and Regulations LIU JEN-KAI 34 Hong Kong SAR Political Data LIU JEN-KAI 36 Macau SAR Political Data LIU JEN-KAI 39 Taiwan Political Data LIU JEN-KAI 41 Bibliography of Articles on the PRC, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and on Taiwan UWE KOTZEL / LIU JEN-KAI / CHRISTINE REINKING / GÜNTER SCHUCHER 43 CHINA aktuell Data Supplement - 3 - 3/2006 Dep.Dir.: CHINESE COMMUNIST Li Jianhua 03/07 PARTY Li Zhiyong 05/07 The Main National Ouyang Song 05/08 Shen Yueyue (f) CCa 03/01 Leadership of the Sun Xiaoqun 00/08 Wang Dongming 02/10 CCP CC General Secretary Zhang Bolin (exec.) 98/03 PRC Hu Jintao 02/11 Zhao Hongzhu (exec.) 00/10 Zhao Zongnai 00/10 Liu Jen-Kai POLITBURO Sec.-Gen.: Li Zhiyong 01/03 Standing Committee Members Propaganda (Publicity) Department Hu Jintao 92/10 Dir.: Liu Yunshan PBm CCSm 02/10 Huang Ju 02/11
    [Show full text]
  • The Visser Chronicles
    1 Animorphs Chronicles 3 Visser K.A. Applegate *Converted to EBook by asmodeus *edited by Dace k 2 Prologue “Honey?” No answer. My husband was watching a game on television. He was preoccupied. “Honey?” I repeated, adding more urgency to my tone of voice. He looked over. Smiled sheepishly. “What’s up?” “Marco’s fever is down. I think he’s basically over this thing. He’s asleep. Anyway, I was thinking of getting some fresh air.” He muted the television. “Good idea. It’s tough when they’re sick, huh? Kids. He’s okay, though, huh?” “It’s just a virus.” “Yeah, well, take some time, you’ve been carrying the load. And if you’re going to the store- “ “Actually, I think I’ll go down to the marina.” He laughed and shook his head. “Ever since you bought that boat… I think Marco has some competition as the favorite child in this household.” He frowned. “You’re not taking it out, are you? Looks kind of gloomy out.” I made a smile. “Just want to make sure it’s well secured, check the ropes and all.” He was back with the game. He winced at some error made by his preferred team. “Uh-huh. Okay.” I stepped back, turned, and walked down the hall. The door to Marco’s room was ajar. I paused to look inside. I almost couldn’t do otherwise because the other voice in my head, the beaten-down, repressed human voice, was alive and screaming and screaming at me, begging me, pleading <No! No! No!> Marco was still asleep.
    [Show full text]
  • The Right Feel
    THE RIGHT FEEL Hirosi Yaoita Mr. Hirosi Yaoita, Yasaka’s founder, was a table tennis player and coach. When starting his company, his vision was to help table tennis players to improve their play and have the greatest enjoyment in their sport. The goal was to pro- vide table tennis players of every level with equipment that has the best playing characteristics and highest quality. Mr. Yaoita’s vision still reflects both the Yasaka MA LIN One of the most accomplished players in the world. Today he coaches Company and its employees. and continues his close collaboration with Yasaka in the development of new products. 1947 1970’s 1993 2008 YASAKA Co. Ltd. was founded In 1969 Yasaka revolutionized In the early 1990s YASAKA At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in 1947 by Mr Yaoita and table tennis rubber technology began producing blades in Ma Lin won gold in both the Mr Sakamoto who gave the introducing MARK V. Winning Tranås, Sweden. It was a na- men’s singles and team events. name of the company (YAoita the men’s singles titles in the tural decision; there was both Ma Lin is the only male player + SAKAmoto). Today Mr. 1970 European Championships the experience and know- who has won Olympic gold Yaoita’s son Takashi Yaoita and 1971 World Champion- ledge. For many years YASAKA medals in men’s singles, men’s is the director and principal ships, success for MARK V was has had close collaboration doubles and team. His 4 World shareholder of Yasaka Co. proven. Since then MARK V has with top Swedish players and Cup titles are also unmatched.
    [Show full text]
  • 2013 Collaborative Middle School Tournament Round 2
    2013 Collaborative Middle School Tournament Round 2 Tossups 1. This author wrote a story in which the inhabitants of Lagash experience darkness for the first time. Along with "Nightfall," this author wrote a series of novels featuring the investigative interactions of Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw. Hari Selden invents the science of psychohistory in this author's novel (*) Foundation. For 10 points, name this Russian-American science fiction writer who depicted the Three Laws of Robotics in his collection, I, Robot. ANSWER: Isaac Asimov [or Isaak Yudovich Ozimov] 2. Combustion reactions produce carbon dioxide, energy, and this substance. Sometimes called the "universal solvent", it has high surface tension because it forms many hydrogen bonds. This compound is unusual in that as it is cooled, it becomes less dense, so its solid form (*) floats on top of its liquid form. For 10 points, name this compound that boils at 100 degrees Celsius, freezes at zero degrees Celsius, and has formula H2O. ANSWER: water [or H2O before it is mentioned] 3. These figures sent the dragon Campe to guard their more monstrous brothers in Tartarus. After losing a war in which he led these gods, Atlas was forced to lift the sky on his shoulders. Though he was one of them, (*) Prometheus left their side and joined with Zeus, who was the son of two of these gods named Rhea and Cronus. For 10 points, name these gods who preceded and fought a war with the Olympians. ANSWER: Titans 4. J.M.W. Turner painted one of these things before it was to be "broken up" in his The Fighting Temeraire.
    [Show full text]
  • 三國演義 Court of Liu Bei 劉備法院
    JCC: Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義 Court of Liu Bei 劉備法院 Crisis Directors: Matthew Owens, Charles Miller Emails: [email protected], [email protected] ​ ​ ​ Chair: Isis Mosqueda Email: [email protected] ​ Single-Delegate: Maximum 20 Positions Table of Contents: 1. Title Page (Page 1) 2. Table of Contents (Page 2) 3. Chair Introduction Page (Page 3) 4. Crisis Director Introduction Pages (Pages 4-5) 5. Intro to JCC: Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Pages 6-9) 6. Intro to Liu Bei (Pages 10-11) 7. Topic History: Jing Province (Pages 12-14) 8. Perspective (Pages 15-16) 9. Current Situation (Pages 17-19) 10. Maps of the Middle Kingdom / China (Pages 20-21) 11. Liu Bei’s Domain Statistics (Page 22) 12. Guiding Questions (Pages 22-23) 13. Resources for Further Research (Page 23) 14. Works Cited (Pages 24-) Dear delegates, I am honored to welcome you all to the Twenty Ninth Mid-Atlantic Simulation of the United Nations Conference, and I am pleased to welcome you to JCC: Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Everyone at MASUN XXIX have been working hard to ensure that this committee and this conference will be successful for you, and we will continue to do so all weekend. My name is Isis Mosqueda and I am recent George Mason Alumna. I am also a former GMU Model United Nations president, treasurer and member, as well as a former MASUN Director General. I graduated last May with a B.A. in Government and International politics with a minor in Legal Studies. I am currently an academic intern for the Smithsonian Institution, working for the National Air and Space Museum’s Education Department, and a substitute teacher for Loudoun County Public Schools.
    [Show full text]
  • Achieving High Coverage for Floating-Point Code Via Unconstrained Programming
    Achieving High Coverage for Floating-Point Code via Unconstrained Programming Zhoulai Fu Zhendong Su University of California, Davis, USA [email protected] [email protected] Abstract have driven the research community to develop a spectrum Achieving high code coverage is essential in testing, which of automated testing techniques for achieving high code gives us confidence in code quality. Testing floating-point coverage. code usually requires painstaking efforts in handling floating- A significant challenge in coverage-based testing lies in point constraints, e.g., in symbolic execution. This paper turns the testing of numerical code, e.g., programs with floating- the challenge of testing floating-point code into the oppor- point arithmetic, non-linear variable relations, or external tunity of applying unconstrained programming — the math- function calls, such as logarithmic and trigonometric func- ematical solution for calculating function minimum points tions. Existing solutions include random testing [14, 23], over the entire search space. Our core insight is to derive a symbolic execution [17, 24], and various search-based strate- representing function from the floating-point program, any of gies [12, 25, 28, 31], which have found their way into many whose minimum points is a test input guaranteed to exercise mature implementations [16, 39]. Random testing is easy to a new branch of the tested program. This guarantee allows employ and fast, but ineffective in finding deep semantic is- us to achieve high coverage of the floating-point program by sues and handling large input spaces; symbolic execution and repeatedly minimizing the representing function. its variants can perform systematic path exploration, but suf- We have realized this approach in a tool called CoverMe fer from path explosion and are weak in dealing with complex and conducted an extensive evaluation of it on Sun’s C math program logic involving numerical constraints.
    [Show full text]
  • The Later Han Empire (25-220CE) & Its Northwestern Frontier
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2012 Dynamics of Disintegration: The Later Han Empire (25-220CE) & Its Northwestern Frontier Wai Kit Wicky Tse University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian History Commons, Asian Studies Commons, and the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Tse, Wai Kit Wicky, "Dynamics of Disintegration: The Later Han Empire (25-220CE) & Its Northwestern Frontier" (2012). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 589. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/589 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/589 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Dynamics of Disintegration: The Later Han Empire (25-220CE) & Its Northwestern Frontier Abstract As a frontier region of the Qin-Han (221BCE-220CE) empire, the northwest was a new territory to the Chinese realm. Until the Later Han (25-220CE) times, some portions of the northwestern region had only been part of imperial soil for one hundred years. Its coalescence into the Chinese empire was a product of long-term expansion and conquest, which arguably defined the egionr 's military nature. Furthermore, in the harsh natural environment of the region, only tough people could survive, and unsurprisingly, the region fostered vigorous warriors. Mixed culture and multi-ethnicity featured prominently in this highly militarized frontier society, which contrasted sharply with the imperial center that promoted unified cultural values and stood in the way of a greater degree of transregional integration. As this project shows, it was the northwesterners who went through a process of political peripheralization during the Later Han times played a harbinger role of the disintegration of the empire and eventually led to the breakdown of the early imperial system in Chinese history.
    [Show full text]
  • Addition to Summer Letter
    May 2020 Dear Student, You are enrolled in Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition for the coming school year. Bowling Green High School has offered this course since 1983. I thought that I would tell you a little bit about the course and what will be expected of you. Please share this letter with your parents or guardians. A.P. Literature and Composition is a year-long class that is taught on a college freshman level. This means that we will read college level texts—often from college anthologies—and we will deal with other materials generally taught in college. You should be advised that some of these texts are sophisticated and contain mature themes and/or advanced levels of difficulty. In this class we will concentrate on refining reading, writing, and critical analysis skills, as well as personal reactions to literature. A.P. Literature is not a survey course or a history of literature course so instead of studying English and world literature chronologically, we will be studying a mix of classic and contemporary pieces of fiction from all eras and from diverse cultures. This gives us an opportunity to develop more than a superficial understanding of literary works and their ideas. Writing is at the heart of this A.P. course, so you will write often in journals, in both personal and researched essays, and in creative responses. You will need to revise your writing. I have found that even good students—like you—need to refine, mature, and improve their writing skills. You will have to work diligently at revising major essays.
    [Show full text]